Of course, Mein said he’s felt the same way about each of his 30 previous contests.

Mein also admits that facing wrestlers, of which Woodley is one of the best in MMA, is always a difficult challenge. Of course, with 30 professional fights under his belt at just 21 years old, Mein isn’t exactly one to shy away from a challenge.

“It’s my next fight, and I always look at my next fight as the biggest fight I have,’ Mein told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “He’s undefeated. Tough wrestler. He’s been a problem for everybody. But that’s why I’m here. I’m here to solve that problem and get a win.”

Mein and Woodley meet on the main card of Saturday’s “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine” event in Las Vegas. Their fight is one of five contests to air on Showtime during the premium-cable channel’s Free Preview Weekend.

Despite boasting three times as many fights as his opponent, Mein enters the fight as a relative unknown, while Woodley is considered one of the top prospects in this sport. Mein said Woodley is deserving of the accolades, but he’s up to the challenge of handing his opponent his first career defeat.

“I’ve been fighting guys with names, and it’s getting me a bit more recognition,” Mein said. “I see this fight personally as that I need to accomplish something for myself. I like fighting wrestlers. I know they’re really hard to fight, and I’ve had past experience fighting – my last loss was a straight wrestler. I’ve been setting my mind towards beating those type of fighters.

“It’s definitely a huge fight for me, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Matching wrestling chops with Woodley, a two-time NCAA Division I All-American, will be no easy task. But Mein said he’s been preparing for just such a test since he was outgrappled by Jason High in an August 2010 affair at Rumble in the Cage 40.

“[Wrestlers] are hard guys to fight,” Mein said. “They’re grinding. I’ve focused a lot on my cardio, pushing five-minute rounds and going hard the entire fight. That’s what I plan on doing here is not relaxing ever, just fighting him the entire time. Watching his last fight, I like to have a few things to work on and put it to him.

“(I’ve been) just focusing my mind on different aspects of the fight, where it could go, and training with the right guys and having them push me in the right areas and watching video on Woodley and seeing what he’s doing, the techniques he’s using – really, just my mindset of what I have to get done.”

Mein was on quite the roll in 2011, posting a 5-0 mark that includes wins over MMA notables Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, Marius Zaromskis, Josh Burkman and Joe Riggs. Mein said other than the financial windfalls that have accompanied the run (“I’ve been a little bit more relaxed on paying bills and whatnot”), little has changed in his training and drive.

Woodley will provide his stiffest test to date, but as Mein will tell you, with great risk comes substantial reward.

“It doesn’t matter what style of guy I’m fighting,” Mein said. “Wrestlers are just guys that are hard to fight. I’m not saying jiu-jitsu guys aren’t hard to fight or strikers aren’t hard to fight. It’s just that wrestlers like to grind. I’ve set my mind towards that, and I think I’m going to do great in this fight and grind him just as much as he’s going to grind me.

“I want to be at the top. I know that I just want to go as far as I can and put on the best show while I’m getting there.”

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.